Foreigners and Nomads
Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, I maintained Nigerian citizenship because of my parents’ diplomatic status. I once met a lady from Indonesia who excitedly launched into her native tongue after learning my birthplace. Embarrassed, I informed her that I was only there briefly and had no knowledge of the language. I was born in the country—but am not of it.
The Kingdom We Long For
I remember the way grief hung so heavy the morning after news broke of the deadliest mass shooting in US history in 2016.
unstoppable
In a video on YouTube, the scientists at Minute Physics attempt to answer the question: “What would happen if an immovable object met an unstoppable force?” Their answer? “If two infinitely massive, unacceleratable objects were moving towards each other and collided . . . since by definition it’s not possible for the velocity of either of them to change, the only possibility is that they pass right through each other with no effect on each other at all.” Huh?
Homes And Other Treasures
Recently I decided to renovate the living room of our old terrace house. I painted the ceiling and replaced the ugly and dated lights. I took down the faded curtains and put up roller blinds. I spent hours on the walls—sanding off flaking paint, filling the many dents and holes, resanding, then applying multiple coats of new paint. A cement slab in the corner was removed and new tiles were laid. The fireplace also needed to be replaced. Finally, I sanded back the skirting boards and repainted them with gloss. It was hard work, but I felt proud of the changes I saw each day.
x prize
The X Prize Foundation attempts to solve the world’s problems by offering large cash prizes to whatever team can fix them first. Winning teams have built a spacecraft that can fly beyond the earth’s atmosphere twice in 2 weeks and cars that achieve 100 miles per gallon. Other teams are trying to land a robot on the moon, build a machine that can quickly sequence each person’s genome, and create a portable device that can diagnose a patient’s condition. These goals will most likely be met, for people will work hard for $10 million.
what counts
The other day I was teasing a male colleague about the look of his lunch bag. The bag featured striped pastel colors with what appeared to be daisies around the edges.
stuff of legends
The 2012 film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit tells the story of a band of dwarves seeking to recapture their lost mountain kingdom from an evil dragon.
front to back
At the start of the movie Walk the Line, young Johnny Cash is talking with his older brother Jack who is hoping to become a preacher. Johnny is sad because he doesn’t know the Bible like his brother, who said, “If I’m going to be a preacher one day, I gotta know the Bible front to back. I mean, you can’t help nobody if you can’t tell them the right story.”
drowning in love
I recently baptized an elementary-age church member in a local river. His dad walked into the water with me, and we stood on each side of his son. Together, we submerged him and then raised him from the cool, cleansing stream. The dad beamed during the entire holy moment. It was the son’s baptism, but it was evident that he experienced the same joy.
to give or not to give
Some days I find only one. Other times they fill my mailbox. Not to mention the phone calls. Help the children, feed the homeless, care for the wounded. Worthwhile requests, yet it’s impossible to meet them all. Even with the contributions we make, I feel strangely guilty whenever I throw away a letter requesting donations or when I tell a contribution-seeking caller: “No, thank you.” The tension I experience is another reminder of the calling I must live out in a less-than-perfect world. Give selflessly, just like Jesus.
amenities
Amenities. Surprisingly, I heard someone use that word in describing a church they had chosen to attend. I understood that the individual was referring to the different ministries the church had to offer, but I was also reminded of the big difference between a fishing boat and a cruise liner.
commoner to royalty
The New York Times estimated that 3 billion people watched Prince William, heir to the throne of England, marry Kate Middleton. If true, nearly one out of every two people on the planet tuned in to watch the well-dressed duo tie the royal knot. While the actual number of viewers was probably much less, still the London wedding was watched by millions across the globe.
freeing money
Among the poor, I’ve often encountered extravagant generosity. In the Amazon jungle, locals stretched their meager resources to provide me with daily meals. One evening they prepared fresh monkey stew and though it was not something I cared to eat, it was a costly delicacy for them. Within the slums of Mexico or Indonesia, you’ll often discover individuals who, because they have so little to horde and protect, exhibit the grace of generosity.
the critical move
Mystery novelist Agatha Christie once suggested that the best way to tell a story that will leave an audience guessing to the end is to conceal the “critical move” with a “big move.” A mysterious movie that stumped me till the end is The Sixth Sense. The big move was a therapist who started to see a young boy who claimed to see dead people. The critical move that took countless viewers by surprise [spoiler alert] was that the therapist later learned that the reason the young boy “saw” him was because he himself was actually dead.
worn out by money
The Internet is crawling with get-rich-quick schemes—ads that promise loads of cash with little effort and/or skills required. Simply apply the special techniques offered in their training material, and it won’t be long before you’re independently wealthy—or so they say. And you can do it all from the comfort and convenience of your home! Hmm . . .
